crisis. watch tonight beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. filmmakers and former white house officials describe their work on productions depicting the white house and the presidency. the discussion hosted by the white house historical association was recorded at the john f. kennedy center for the performing arts in washington, d.c. [ applause ] good evening, i hope you've been enjoying tonight's program. it's been fascinating and there's more to come. a year ago, i was honored when fred ryan, the chair of our board, asked me to chair the white house historical association's board committee for this important four-day summit. i want to thank the members of our committee, marsha, mike, ann, and our historian adviser michael for their contributions to the planning of the summit.

with the terrific staff of the white house historical association and the president's vision and leadership, we've convened more than 100 presidential sites as well as leading experts in the wide array of fields and interests at the presidential site representatives told us that they wanted to hear from. i want to thank our good friend david rubenstein for moderating a fascinating conversation with the descendents about sharing their lives in the white house that have been passed down through the ages. that is what it is really like to be in the white house. in our next panel, we will shift gears to hollywood. as dee dee meyers said in her message, we'll examine about how both the big and small screen portray the fictional perspective of the white house and the people who live there and who work there.

from comedies to dramas, there is no shortage of interest and fascination in washington. there are more shows, more characters, and roles that are portrayed and examined and certainly a large volume of material to draw from. one person who knew the power and reach of television was first lady jackie kennedy. when she led a tour of the white house in a landmark television broadcast on valentine's day 1962, 80 million people watched and listened as she walked from room to room. her tv appearance was also syndicated in 50 countries. she not only shined a light on her leadership in historic preservation at the white house, but as one administration critic wrote at the time, it helped

bridge the gulf normally separating the white house and the individual citizen. that's the power of television in the movies. the connection they can make to telling our nation's story is impactful. but with that impact comes responsibility. some get it right, and some don't. and our next panel, you will hear from actors, producers, writers on the productions behind the scenes. and you'll hear from experienced washingtonians who are technical consults and have shared their expertise based on years in this town and their own roles in the white house. i have the good fortune to work as a consultant for hbo's "veep." i can't recall quite the same antics or the language from when i was working in the white house as you see on shows like ""veep," but i can say this, the

team spends a lot of time getting it right. let's dive into our second panel. first welcome back to the oval office, david rubenstein to moderate our panel. [ applause ] adan canto, accomplished actor and known to all of us as white house deputy chief of staff and later chief of staff, aaron shore in "designated survivor." tammy haddad, president and ceo haddad media. tammy is a consultant to hbo and several political filmmakers. [ applause ] i also get to work with her on "veep" where she's our lead consultant. mack mclarty, "designated

survivor," "white house down," and many other films and productions. he also served, of course, as former chief of staff to president bill clinton. capricia penavic marshall, consultant for "house of cards." [ applause ] capricia also served as white house social secretary to president and mrs. clinton and state department chief of protocol for president obama. kirk saduski, documentarian and producer. [ applause ] and james vanderbil, screen writer and producer for "white house down." mr. ruber stein, the stage is

yours. >> mack, you've been chief of staff of the white house. when you see all of these movies or tv shows that portray the chief of staff of the white house, do they make him handsome enough, do you think? >> some are too tall and too handsome. >> when you look at them on tv, when you watch the various shows, do you think that they are reasonably accurate in the way they portray what goes on in the white house, or is it too dramatic. >> largely, it does capture the white house, the ups, the downs, the fast pace. it obviously is dramatized. i wish we had a script like "west wing" and "designated survivor," that would have been helped. >> capricia, when they're doing "house of cards" did they call you up and say is this possible? how much input do you have and

why are they concerned about accuracy? who cares if it's that accurate? will it make a difference? >> actually, david, you and mack and i, we were all witnesses to history and ceremonies and everyday life that occurred behind the north portico. when i was asked to advised, i was a little confused during west wing when people are racing back and forth. where are they going? i didn't quit understand that. when i was asked on house of cards to advice, in particularly, on a state arrival, as you know, as it was noted, i was chief of protocol, i took it seriously because these movies and shows are successful and interesting because people want that peek behind the curtain. they're really intrigued. and so we should let them know exactly what's happening. how does this occur? why does it occur?

but on this particular scene, i kind of took it a little bit too far and i became the director and i kept saying cut, you got it wrong. you need to go back and do it again, do it again. one of the actors who shall remain nameless, said to me, does it really make a difference? and i said, well, if i didn't really make a difference, then why am i here? that was my last day on set with that particular actor. >> by the way, as chief of protocol, your job is to make sure nothing bad happens. give us an example of an embarrassment that occurred? >> that's an easy one. all you have to do is google capricia penavic marshall, and you will see at the north portico steps, i was leading president and mrs. obama out in a very elegant peek gown and my heel got stuck in a divot on the

marble and down i went in front of 300 members of the international press corps and my mother watching live on c-span from cleveland, ohio. it was embarrassing. president obama thought it was quite funny. the next state business, he whispered in my ear, will she stay up or will she go down? [ laughter ] >> all right. so when you -- kirk, you did a series on john adams. john adams was the first president to actually live in what is now the white house. so how could you possibly know what it looked like in those days? >> well, we had the benefit, of course, of david's great book. we answer to -- you were talking about authenticity and how important it is. we answer to a higher authority, meaning david. and so he was very involved and with the entire production from

development of the scripts through production. so we had a pretty good idea. when you read david's book, you feel like you're at the elbow of both abigail and john adams. we had the best possible blueprint. >> they only livid there for a few months, is that right? >> right. >> it is said that abigail adams used to hide out in the east room, is there any truth from that? >> from what david has told us, yes, that was part of what we were trying to capture in the show is how -- we didn't want to do a costume dramatic. we wanted it to seem like this was something -- this was gritty and difficult. by that point, it's the early 19th century, and so what was life really like at that time? david always said to us, none of this was fore ordained, et cetera. so we always kept that in mind. >> where did you shoot that?

>> we shot it primarily in virtue, down in richmond. some of it in hungary, but primarily in richmond. >> when you build the sets, what happens afterwards? do you send them off? >> the state of virginia still uses them. i think they used them for lincoln. but i will say in terms of the set, i am the first day we took david there, right before we started production and he was with his wife rosalee. and it got a little emotional -- the first set that we showed him was the adams farm, family farm. and he got emotional because it was so -- it was so as he add -- his research had shown. >> it's important for people to have it accurate. when steven spill berg was doing lincoln, they shot it in richmond as well and shot it at

the state capitol. they made one mistake, they left a bust of woodrow wilson up, and he hasn't been alive then. other otherwise it was pretty accurate. when you're an actor, do you talk to people like -- you play national security adviser, chief of staff. >> that's right. >> and had you talked to somebody like mack or other people who played those roles? >> mack was very kind and he lent me -- it was about an hour of his time. it was a significant conversation. i was hoping not to be obnoxious. i just had all of these questions. it's a pretty big task to play a role like this. talking about, you know, being accurate and getting it right. i just felt -- number one, i felt very excited about it. it's a fascinating world, you know. it's basically carving out our times. we're building future -- the history constantly.

and, obviously, fiction doesn't match reality. but mack was kind enough to run -- i sort of narrow it down to a day. what does a day look like? i don't know if any of you have seen the show, but it's kind of a tragic -- kind of a high-level situation. the capital has been bombed and everybody died, basically. and the designated survivor has to take the seat of the president. and what do you do in that situation? how do you start building from the ground up? there's a series of protocols that you have to go by. and just preparation was significant. very helpful. >> all right. so have you aspired to play a president ever? >> i think it would be fantastic. it's a -- the fact that i'm getting nervous thinking about it says that i probably would

love that. >> okay. you are a writer/producer. when you came up with our idea for the one about the white house -- >> white house down. >> white house down. where did you get the idea from and how long did it take you to write that? >> i actually adapted a book by richard clark called against all enemies which he was the counterterrorism czar under president clinton. i was fascinated by the idea of what would happen in a crisis. and much like the sort of being of designated survivor in our film, it's bombing of the capitol, but it's a diversion. that film didn't end up getting made, but i really loved the world and wanted to explore it, but i love big summer popcorn movies. i try to blend the two of them. >> everything you write doesn't get made? >> no. >> i thought everything in

hollywood gets made. >> god bless you, sir. from your lips. no, absolutely. i didn't end up getting -- >> white house down, you wrote it what year? >> i wrote it in 2012? i wrote it on speck -- >> speck means you're not getting paid. >> speck means i'm absolutely not getting paid. about a week before i finished it, i read online that a movie called olympus has fallen has just been bought and green lit which was basically the same idea of bad guys attack the white house and i figured that's the ball game and i put it in the drawer and i told my agent about it. i said, you know, i wrote this thing, but it will never work. she said, you wrote it, send it to me. i sent it to her and a week later sony pictures bought it in a bidding war and we were shooting the movie 14 weeks later which is very fast. >> green lit, means there's money in it.

>> now i get paid. >> how long did it take to shoot it? >> it took six months. >> where was it shot? >> in montreal. >> not even in the country. >> not even in the country. the thing you don't think about when you're writing this is that, we're not going to be able to shoot in the white house. we have to build all of it. and we built -- i think we have the record of the biggest white house set ever built. we built 65% of the white house to scale. >> where is that now? >> that is in a lot of boxes. you sell it off to other productions who are looking to do the -- >> okay. tammy, you have been adviser to many different shows and you're an adviser to hbo. why do people who use you as an consult want it to be accurate? >> i don't have to convince them. they don't want to touch anything. there's a decision that filmmakers make that we want it to be very dramatic and whatever

it takes for drama, like white house down, or an all the way confirmation. some of the films we worked on, we wanted to be as precise as possible. or even on "veep," everything is exact because they feel like the writers and julia louis-dreyfus, they all want to make sure it -- the comedy comes from the fact that it's exactly factual. so we -- actually, some of the people here on the stage and some people out there have passed along tips and things that have happened. my favorite story one day i got a call from an obama person who said, oh, my god, you got to do this. it's another "veep" moment. it's a "veep" moment and that's why i give out my phone number. and the moment is, the white house sent out a memo saying the emails are down. that's a classic "veep" moment. but what we try to do and what hbo always does and they have a

history of it with recount, game change, but how do we -- we have to have it precise. we introduce them to people and let them hear the language. it's really the language that tells you. >> so do you read the scripts in advance and then tell them what you think? or do you sit on there and when they're shooting the scenes. >> for "veep" we look at the scripts and we just make sure that -- the hard thing is, we don't know anything about comedy in washington, right? and then every so often you think, oh, it might be funnier -- you're like, stay in your own lane. you don't really know. you're a political producer. but it does make it funnier when it's exact. we tell them language like what's the clutch? what's grass tops? high tops? task force, all the language that we use every day. when you sit with the writers

and they see people talk that, you know -- not famous for washington people. people just -- that have worked in, you know, capitol hill forever in the back room of the white house and their mesmerized by the language. they just want to capture it and they do and they make it funnier than you can ever believe. >> how did you get into this business of being an adviser? how does one prepare to be an adviser in this kind of way? >> i'm a longtime political producer. i guess i've been looking at it too long. i was political director on msnbc. and you have to know people who are willing to tell you everything. that's why i'm going to give out my number later. we have one more season of "veep" coming up. >> i would remind everybody, julia louise dreyfus is the mark twain winner this year. >> "veep" just started shooting this week. it's going to come out in april.

it's great that you're doing that david. >> mack, when you're chief of staff of the white house, do you say, how is this going to look on tv if this is ever portrayed? you never worry about that, do you, if somebody writes about this? that's not your main worry as chief of staff? >> that occurs to us, david. there's no question that the photo-op of the day, the message of the day is the medium. you want to get your message out there, your point of view. perception is important. but you got to have the right decisions and the substance behind it too. >> so when the president of the united states is going to make a statement, he can do it in the press room, he can do it in the oval office, he can do it, i guess, in the residence, and do they try to vary it -- >> sometimes he can just do it spontaneously. that's what you really worry about. [ laughter ] >> capricia, when you are at the state department as protocol chief, you have events at the

very well-known non-white house part, but it's the benjamin franklin room and so forth. describe briefly what those rooms are about and why you see those rooms on tv as well. >> well, they are very historic. the collection -- actually, if you get an opportunity, people should go to the state department when they reopen at the end of august, beginning of september, and visit. the collection that is in those rooms is an extraordinary gathering of our american story and i think the collection is valued now at $120 million. they are originals. and when i was chief of protocol really loved taking our foreign visitors through those rooms because each piece, each painting, each piece of furniture, the extraordinary items that you had donated, the

constitution, it was amazing, the table which those things were extraordinary documents were drafted, i would love to tell our visiting delegations all about this because it tells the history of who we are. and i would say, and this is 200 years old to the chinese. and they would laugh. they would laugh. and i said, oh, it may not be as old as yours. but the story and what it means to us is as rich, if not more. >> one of your jobs is to figure out who comes to the date dinners, which nobody really wants to go to, of course. you have to beg people to go, i guess. but sometimes people really want to go and you don't have to beg them. how many calls do you get from predominant americans saying i really need to be there, or the president told me i would be invited. do you ever get those calls? >> i see ann in the audience as well. she's a former social secretary and i would say we would get hundreds of those calls, ann,

hundreds -- the president just invited me. don't you know, i'm supposed to be there. there's a great story that bess able who was social secretary for president johnson told all of us that she once received a telephone call that a good friend of the president's, that his wife was dying of cancer. if she is not invited to this state visit, it would be her last moment. you have to. you must, you must. she went to mrs. johnson and told her the story and mrs. johnson is like, i don't know anything about this. certainly, we should. and so they did, and she said she just saw her shopping, she was just recently grocery shopping at the safeway. so clearly she overcame that fatal cancer. >> the invitation must have given her good health, right? sometimes you're producing things that are not from the john adams era. and you produce on cnn the various thing that says the '60s, the '70s, so forth. where do you get all that film

footage? is it hard to get that? >> no. it's actually -- everywhere because we really rely on the archives from the networks, cbs, nbc, abc. the miller center which is at the university of virginia has been very helpful with a lot of the audio recordings. i know we talked earlier about having the phone calls from her father to various figures. we use those extensively, both from president johnson. we use some of --resident kennedy didn't record his phone calls but recorded himself on a dictaphone. and the miller center has those. from those kinds of sources. there's an authenticity when you're looking at the actual footage. i think that's one of the things that we hear about our series so much is that people really feel like they're watching television at the time. >> you've done the '60s. >> the '60s through the 2000s, including a special series on 1969.

>> which is the most highly rated. the baby boomers, the '60s? >> all of the shows have done well in the ratings. but it's the living memory people as we get closer to the present times. >> you have a coproducer? >> tom hanks. >> does he look at the film as well and edit with you or not as much? >> he didn't come into the edit bay very often, but, yes, of course. tom and gary both set a high bar from the start of the company which they started 20 years ago now. and they knew that they wanted to do history and they knew that they were going to set a pretty high bar. obviously, tom being who he is, people would expect. one time he was referred to by "time magazine" as american's historian on the cover. that's a high bar that we're constantly aware that we have to --

>> in the '60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and this -- the first ten -- >> and the 2000s. >> which presidential speech that you've put on there is in your view the most emotional. if somebody said to you, i just have one minute to watch a presidential clip, which one is the most emotional or you think is the most memorable? >> well, i would have to say in terms of a speech, i would say in deference to mrs. rab, lbj's speech. at the end of the speech, right after selma. and he said, and we shall overcome. i was privileged to interview john lewis here in washington and we talked about that moment. he was with dr. king in alabama when they watched that and they had no idea that the president was going to say that. if i was to boil it down to one minute segment, i would say that. >> before i got into private equity, i thought i should be an actor and i thought it was an easy thing to do.

but there were no takers. so i had to do something else, go to law school and business. but being an actor, is that a profession that you trained for? did you go to acting school? how do you get into that? i didn't get into the right school. how do you get into that profession? >> i just -- i wish it was a bit more exciting. but before i was an actor -- first of all, i had no idea that this was possible. my hometown or towns, both towns in south texas, and mexico, very small towns, very, very small towns. and, anyway -- >> a couple hundred people? >> something like that. >> did you want to go to hollywood and be famous? >> that was absolutely not in my radar. >> how did you get into this? in case i want to reinvent my

career again? >> i was a musician. i was a singer, songwriter and i progressed in music to a certain point and life was very, very hard. and at that point, for some reason, i was living in mexico -- i had lived in l.a. for a while. when i decided to do to mexico city. i don't remember how or why. there was this music project that we got going and i was going to do my first album as a singer, right, and all of a sudden the producers that were leading this project, they got fired from their companies and never heard from them again. i had to fend for myself. i was down there, thinking, okay, what do i do? and there was commercials -- i could find a job at starbucks down there, but it doesn't pay what starbucks pays in the states. it was not going to work. and i had been raised in the states. i didn't make any sense in my head. and i started doing commercials and then the casting houses for

commercials did films as well. i wanted to stop doing commercials because i really enjoyed finding -- i guess a bit more complex characters. and i was fortunate enough to get good opportunities, getting aligned with the right characters and projects and i did a very obscure tv show that was actually censored because it was portraying a lot of the secrets between government and, you know, the world of drugs down in mexico and it was censored. my only job couldn't go out there. it got to a certain point. i decided to come back to l.a. and ever since, it's a fascinating world. you know, i've always -- >> jobs for acting, they're handed out on merit always, or is it sometimes you know? >> no, it depends on the project. it totally depends on the project, on the story, the tone

of the piece says a lot as well. you know, there are some amazing actors that do a certain kind of movie that i'm not particularly fond of. but i like to watch their work because that's something i could never do. >> when you're playing the chief of staff or the nsa adviser, do you memorize whole pages at a time, or do you just do it a couple words and then they stop it and you do another couple words. >> no, i don't. i couldn't do that. what i do is, i -- i find key words. if there's a page of dialogue, it doesn't matter. it's going to be in here at the end, i know. i don't get nervous about it. i know what's going on. i understand the situation very, very well. i find the key words and subconsciously everything connects with the key words in the situation and all of a sudden after reading it a few times, and reacting to my fellow actors on set, it just happens to be there. >> you've given up your singing

career, you're full-time acting now, right? >> somewhat. it's still there, but it's not a priority at the moment. >> you don't want to sing anything now, right? [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> favorite song you want to sing? no, okay. any white house related songs, "hail to the chief"? >> maybe we could do it together. [ laughter ] >> i'm the only person in this room who is completely tone deaf as me. you don't want to hear me singing. tammy, how did you come to washington, why did you come here from wherever you came, what where did you come from and how did you get interested in politics and the media? >> i was an intern in college. instead at going to class, i could intern at a station in pittsburgh and i got hired to work on a talk show and

immediately got inside in politics. i said thank you, the jimmy carter white house had unbelievable radio outreach. and every day the white house would call and give us a guest and then larry king's radio show, you guys remember larry king, his radio show was in washington. they needed a producer. and so someone from the white house recommended me. so i moved to washington to do that. and i actually remember, we were in crystal city, which was brand-new then, and one -- and i kept trying to get ted turner. he had just launched cnn. it was so amazing. cnn. and i finally booked him. i thought i was the greatest producer in north america and says to larry king, wouldn't you like to work here and we ended up going to cnn. it's always about politics. you're here in washington, everyone has some sort of piece of it. but to be able to decide what's important to pick the polls and all that, that's pretty exciting. >> when you're doing the larry king show, what was the most

embarrassing moment? somebody didn't show up, somebody was drunk? >> the most embarrassing moment was raquel welch -- >> who was raquel welch? i remember her. >> she was at a desk and she was intoxicating and i went over and said, hey, we're going on the air. and she's like, i'm not ready. i said, it's larry king live, we're live. the music is playing. and she said, i'm -- you know, i'm not ready. and i said, you have to come. i pulled her out. and she gets on the set. now, ladies and gentlemen, it's larry king live, and tonight raquel welch, and she burped and larry said, oh, are you okay? and she said, it's just a burp larry. only if you look like raquel welch can you burp on national

television. yeah, that's how it was. is that embarrassing enough? but the great moment back to politics for a minute, mack and i were talking about it, we had ross perot on larry king live, the famous weekend when george herbert walker bush was going to congress to decide on going to war and ross called into larry king live and was yelling at ross perot. i was like, this guy has more power than i thought. and i stayed in touch with him and two months later he announced he was running for president. >> what was up with the suspenders for larry king. >> i can tell you about that too. it's the appearance of sitting straight up and down. >> going to wear some suspenders. >> that's the secret. >> what are you writing or producing next? >> i have a movie coming out

called the house with the clocks in its walls. it's a kids film. it comes out september 21st. please, all of you go see it six or seven times. >> without telling us the ending, what's the essence of the plot? >> it is about a young boy in the 1950s who loses his parents and he goes to live with his uncle, who the family doesn't talk about much. and he discovers that his uncle is a war lock and his uncle has no rules, why don't you eat cookies for dinner. and he gets indoctrinated in the family of witches and wizards and complications enshoe. >>. >> sounds like something we ought to see six or seven times. we have a little time left. you have a question? >> actually, i wanted to do an addendum to what i said

earlier -- or add something. i just want to thank you, david, i'm reminded of your contributions to -- [ applause ] >> thank you. >> the contributions that you made in your generosity and devotion to your american history. you can see it all over the united states. when i was -- before the show, everywhere, i was telling you about how we revere you because of your devotion -- >> you should ask him what embarrassing moment did he have at the white house. >> good one. [ applause ] >> come on. >> there are a lot of embarrassing moments when i was at the white house. one of them i always remember was this, my boss was the president's policy adviser. i was the deputy. in those days, stuart would go home to dinner and you had to drive yourself home. he went home for dinner and so i was staying there. i ate at the machine -- the vending machine so i didn't go

home. i just ate there. one time stuart was away and was coming back and the president of the united states had a phone that he could pick up and ring directly in stuart's office. didn't have to dial. it also would flash in my office so i could pick it up as well. and one time, the president called and stuart wasn't there. i figured, i'll pick it up myself. i'm talking to the president and he thinks for about 30 seconds it's stuart and finally i say, well, actually it's david. and he said, okay, it doesn't make a difference. as i'm talking, i see stuart is coming back, walking past my office, going in to talk to the president. and he calls the white house operator and says, can you get me the president. and she says, he's talking to david rubenstein right now. he said, i'm the president's top adviser, what are you doing talking to him? i didn't get fired from that. but there are other embarrassing

moments. the other embarrassing moment was this, during the campaign, we were in the last campaign -- last campaign in 1980. we were called back in the middle of the night to go back to the white house because of the hostage negotiations were going on and some break had come through. they knocked on everybody's door in the hotel and said, we're leaving at 3:00 a.m. get dressed. get out of here. they claim that they knocked on my door, i said okay, but i didn't remember it. so i got up at about 7:00 a.m. i get dressed i walk out and every door is open. there's not one single person left. and i wonder what happened? is there a movie or something? everybody has disappeared. i call the white house and say what happened? they said, david, you didn't show up on the plane and we left about you. too bad, you come back commercial. when you're traveling with the president of the united states, you have to make sure you're there all the time. but there are other embarrassing moments, but i don't think people want to hear about my embarrassing moments. i want to thank all of you for giving your time and your

energies here tonight and i hope people have felt they learned a little bit more about the white house and also television and things relating to it. and mack, thank you for what you've done for our country and your service. capricia, thank you for the documentaries you've done. thank you for the great acting and for the voice lessons. what date is your movie coming out? >> september 21st. >> tammy thank you for everything you've done. thank you all for coming. i hope you've had an enjoyable time. [ applause ] >> i'm with the white house historic association. i would like to thank you for sticking with us through the hottest show in town tonight. we have three announcements before everyone departs. i would like to invite the rest of our panelists to come out and join this panel. we're going to do some

photographs. our presidential descendents and we're going to have you sign the desk drawer of the resolute desk. we have ten special restaurant and bar specials throughout this week through friday. special drinks, meals, discounts. you can see them on our website, white house history.org. for those of you who came from the willard hotel on a bus, the buses will be picking you up at the same place they dropped you off. thank you, all, for being with us. summit-goers, we'll see you first thing in the moment. everyone else, go home and cool off. good night. [ applause ] >> okay, presidential descendents, come on up.

weeknights this month, we're featuring american history tv programs as a preview of what's available every weekend on c-span3. tonight, we look at pandemics and disease. in 1918, a flu virus infected one-third of the world's

population. nancy bristow talks about the correlations between that earlier pandemic and today's global crisis. watch tonight beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. library of congress is an short documentary taking viewers on a tour through the library's reading rooms, collections and operations. including field recordings of folk musicians. the film highlights the institution's benefit to the public and scholars worldwide. part of a series entitled "the american scene." a world war ii office operating in europe and the pacific to support the war effort through print and film productions. ♪♪